Basel and Geneva should pay the federal government for identity checks
At the Basel and Geneva airports, identity checks are the responsibility of the border guards. So far, the federal government has not been compensated for its work. Now the cantons are to pay – up to 27 million francs a year.
Unlike in Zurich, federal employees at Basel and Geneva airports are responsible for identity checks. The federal government should now be compensated for this, recommends the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) and could expect income of up to 27 million francs a year. Of this, CHF 17 to 22 million is attributable to Geneva Airport and around five million to Basel-Mulhouse.
The Border Guard Corps (GWK) carries out the controls on the basis of agreements. Compensation has not yet been agreed, according to a report published by the SFAO on Monday. According to this, the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) instructed the Federal Customs Administration (FCA) around ten years ago, in February 2012, to include the “cost issue at Geneva and Basel airports” in any new agreement negotiations.
However, this did not happen when the FCA renewed the agreement with the canton of Geneva in 2013. The additional agreement with Geneva Airport, in which the waiver of charging for the costs of the services is expressly stated, remains in effect.
violation of whitening
The SFAO has now determined that the customs administration violated the instructions of the Department of Finance when concluding the agreement with Geneva. Whether this happened consciously or was a result of unclear communication cannot be reconstructed afterwards.
The SFAO recommends that the Finance Department conclude service agreements for the border guard checks at airports. “The services should be reimbursed at full cost by the cantons.” Before the pandemic, 170 full-time positions were needed for identity checks in Geneva and 40 in Basel.
The general secretariat of the finance department now wants to start talks with the cantonal governments of Basel and Geneva, according to a statement included in the reports. A settlement to the airport operator is not possible due to the lack of a legal basis.
The financial control is of the opinion that the lack of further settlement contradicts the principle of fiscal equivalence and promotes the unequal treatment of the cantons. From the SFAO’s point of view, the fact that police sovereignty lies with the cantons also speaks in favor of offsetting the services provided by the border guards.
Different regime in Zurich
At Zurich Airport – unlike in Geneva and Basel – the cantonal airport police carry out identity checks. In 2011, the FDF decided that the canton of Zurich was not entitled to any compensation for this, since the identity checks were a matter for the canton.
The SFAO report was created in the summer of 2021, during the merger of customs and border guards in the new Federal Office of Customs and Border Security (BAZG). The identity checks at airports are not affected by the ongoing revision of customs legislation.
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